


I come from a land down under

by madsmurf



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Azazel's tail is made of awesome, Charles is a sneaky bastard, Charles was raised by dingoes, Emma is not impressed by your stupidity, Erik is a big doofus, Gen, Hurt Charles and Janos will hunt you down, In the Australian desert, Raven and Janos are flawless parents, Shaw knows nothing, The dingoes stole Charles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-10
Updated: 2012-04-10
Packaged: 2017-11-03 09:31:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/379916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madsmurf/pseuds/madsmurf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik takes Charles away from the dingoes. Charles is not happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I come from a land down under

**Author's Note:**

> Can originally found [here](http://madsmurf93.tumblr.com/post/20776248885/holy-shizstick-guys-its-done-feral-charles-is-done). As it was a series of ask!fics requested by a whole bunch of lovely people but mostly Tiere <3

"Are you insane Erik! You can't just bring a wild animal here!" 

If looks could kill Emma would have killed him thirty times over and then repeated the process. Of course Azazel helps him out, as he does. 

"He's not an actual animal --" 

Emma turns her anger towards Azazel "he might as well be," she waves her freshly manicured fingernails towards him "I mean look at him!" 

They both do and Erik has to bite back laughter -- Azazel actually covers his mouth with one hand -- or Emma is likely to kill him. Charles is bashing the phone against the table growling at it, he even bites at it. It seems the more frustrated Charles gets the more he growls and barks at his source of frustration. 

"He just doesn't understand Emma." 

Emma glares, and he actually fears for his life, so he approaches Charles. Taking the phone away, narrowly missing his fingers getting bitten off, he places the phone back and pushes it away. Charles growls deeply at him, baring his teeth. He finds it cute. Mud covers Charles from head to toe (and he likes to think that's the reason Emma is so murderous, they are currently crashing at her penthouse) since Charles seems to just know when they are going to try and give him a bath. He thinks they could get him if he'd just get comfortable enough to trust them. The whole drugging him and shipping him away from The Simpson Desert and to New York City wasn't helping the trust thing. But what were they suppose to do? Let him die? (ignoring the fact that Charles had seemed to be getting along fine on his own) The dingoes had seemed very reluctant to let him go (Janos had the marks to prove it). Yet, they had managed. Now if they could only stop Charles from being so savage and just a tiny bit civilised, maybe, just maybe, Emma wouldn't kill them all. Or at the very least, keep Shaw from finding out.

\----

They manage to get him in the bathroom before he notices the bathtub and Azazel has to make a dive for Charles' waist and Erik has to dive for the door and slam it shut (locking all others with a mental push of his power). Charles howls. Literally howls. Erik is sorta amazed. Azazel looks like he wants to stab Charles with his tail and be impressed at the same time. Instead he makes his tail cover Charles' mouth. Which Charles bites. Judging by the look on Azazel's face, Charles has sharp teeth.

This isn't the right way but they have very little choice in the matter. Janos keeps pleading -- from the other side of the door -- that they stop hurting Charles. The thing is, they're not doing anything of the sort. Charles is just very loud and violent. Azazel copes it the worst, being the one to hold Charles down, while Erik washes him as quickly as he can. That doesn't mean Erik is better off. He has a gash across his left arm, three broken fingers and a bloody eye. They manage though.

Charles is not happy with them. Not in the slightest. Well at least he's clean, which is as good as it was going to get. Erik's trying though, but what can you do when he wants to rip your fingers clean off. Erik just can't have that happen, so he squints at Charles, his bloody eye swollen shut, and tries to offer Charles food. Except that gets Erik nothing but threatening growls, barks and bared teeth. He groans, hiding his face in his hands. He was so screwed. That was until Raven showed up.

Raven is a godsend. She manages to calm Charles. Not that, that means he doesn’t stop biting, barking and growling. He just seems to do it with more affection. Between Raven and Janos, Erik wonders how they do it. Charles seems to have nothing but hatred towards Emma, Azazel and himself.

All they did was give him a bath. (and force him away from his home, but come on New York was so much better than the Northen Territory. New York didn’t have any giant crocodiles that could possibly kill you from under your car, it was only luck that Azazel had spotted it out of the corner of his eye.)

So really, Charles should be grateful, not trying to rip Azazel’s tail from his body, or trying to scratch Erik’s eyes out. Emma was probably the safest besides Raven and Janos, with her diamond form. That in itself seems to frustrate Charles into a ball of growls that Erik found adorable.

He could ignore Raven’s disapproving frown for now.

“Erik he isn’t a pet, you should just put him back, he’s unhappy. You can’t fix him.” He glares at Raven.

“We can, he’s still human, we just have to coax it out of him.”

She doesn’t bother him with any words, just gives him one final disapproving glare and storms out, slamming the door shut. Emma looks at Charles and then at Erik

“Maybe she’s right, sugar, we’ve only got a month before Sebastian comes back and if Charles is still like this,” she sighs “he’s good as dead.”

He doesn’t answer, just offers Charles raw meat. He knows they can do it.

\----

It's been three weeks and Charles has stopped trying to kill them all. He hasn't stopped ripping everything to pieces though, and Erik worries. Emma has developed a twitch in her right cheek. And he's pretty sure he saw a few wrinkles on her forehead the other day. So he worries about Charles. Charles is also wearing pants and socks -- odd socks but at least it's a start -- he is even saying simple words, like thier names and most of the basics. It makes him confident that they really can do it.

\----

Erik is panicking. Shaw was scheduled back tomorrow and Charles just wasn't ready. They were going to fail. Maybe he should have listened to Raven. He had thought, maybe, they could have done it. Really done it. Speaking of Charles, the poor soul, was currently in the corner, playing with something. Probably a shoe. He walks over to Charles and nearly dies. 

"You can play chess?" 

Charles looks up, pleased with himself. "Yes." 

Maybe they haven't failed. "Care for a game?" 

Charles grins. "Okay."

\----

"Just remember, keep your conversations simple." 

Charles just looks at him like he's the one they had stolen from the desert. It pleases him in a way. At the very most Charles could act condescending. 

"Okay, everyone ready?" 

Azazel smirks, Janos looks murderous (like an overprotective parent), Emma is indifferent, Angel looks excited, and Raven looks worried. Erik takes a breath to calm himself. 

"Lets do this." 

They do. 

Charles surprises them all in more ways than one.

\-----  
This was it. 

Janos looks like he wants to snatch Charles away, it’s only Azazel’s hand on his shoulder that stops him. Though Erik can really see why. He wants to do it himself. Except they can’t. Charles is talking to Shaw. And there isn’t a squad of scientists dragging Charles away. Which is a good thing. So far they haven't been caught out. This was good. Very good.

Emma slides next to Erik, smiling. “I’d say things are going rather smoothly sugar.” 

It makes him laugh, he takes a sip of wine, “I’m amazed this hasn’t blown up in our faces yet.” 

Emma laughs, slinking her arm in his. “Dance with me.” 

He raises an eyebrow but doesn’t deny her. 

So they dance. 

‘You’re a good dancer.’ 

Erik smirks. “The same good be said about you Emma.” 

Emma frowns. “Sorry sugar, has the crazy finally got to you?” 

Now it’s his turn to be confused. “You just said I was a good dancer, well you thought it but that’s the same thing with you.” 

She actually laughs, twirls and dips him, whispering in his ear “That wasn’t me sugar."

"What do you mean that wasn't you?" 

Emma has the look that she knew something you didn't. "Oh don't be dumb Erik, it doesn't suit you." 

"Well then who could it have been then? I hardly think Grey would be serving me any compliments, she hates me." 

Emma just continues to smile, "Be a dear and spin me towards Raven." 

He does as she asks. 

'I like her, she understands me.' 

Okay. The crazy has officially caught up with him. At least the voice was appealing. That gets him a telepathic laugh.

'You really are a good dancer, you should dance with me.'

Erik actually laughs aloud at that. Oh that was rich.

"You aren't real."

"Who isn't real, comrade?"

Sometimes he hates Azazel and his ability to sneak up on people.

"The voice in my head."

That gets him a knowing look -- which he strongly wants to wipe off -- and a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Azazel's tail.

"Well good luck with that comrade."

He grunts at Azazel's retreating back. Oh great! He was turning into Charles.

'Hey!'

Oh.

'Charles?!'

Laughter is his only answer.

'You're a telepath?' 

He frowns, that doesn't make any sense. Charles had been savage, vicious even, when they had found him. There was no way, _no way_ , Charles was a telepath.

'Emma was right. You _are_ stubborn.'

He frowns again, and lets himself look out to where Charles and Shaw are in heavy, enthusiastic, conversation. He wonders how he could have missed it.

'You will explain _everything_ when we get home.'

Laughter again.

'Of course.'

\---

"You all knew? And none of you thought to tell me?"

He's fuming. Why was it that he was the last to find out. Shouldn't he have been told that Charles was a _fucking_ telepath. The television curls inwards, and he couldn't muster up the effort to care, despite his friends protests (could he even call them that?). Emma shoots him a pointed look. He glares back with twice as much heat. She was the worse to blame. She should have told him. They were suppose to be a _team_.

"Erik."

He tenses, and quickly whirls around to face a guilty looking Charles. He can't seem to gather the right words so he just glares and glares and glares. Charles looks like he wants the floor to swallow him whole and spit him out, back into that blasted desert. Erik can't say that he would miss the deceiving savage mutt -- he must be projecting as Charles's expression grows dark, dangerous. He can even see a hint of bared teeth.

"Now listen here Erik Lehnsherr. You can't call _me_ deceiving when you tore me away from my home, my family. You just can't. If you do you're no better than Sebastian Shaw."

There is a collective intake of breath behind him and Charles, Charles is standing his ground. All bared teeth and a bundle of fury. He barely sees that, through the red.

He's on top of Charles before he thinks anything through.

\----

It takes the collective strength of Azazel, Raven and Emma to pull Charles off Erik. It takes Janos and Angel to hold him back while Azazel, Raven and Emma hold Charles back. They both shout vicious words at each other, unable to do much else. The sun is setting when they are out of breath and left to glare at each other.

\----

"I'm sorry for hiding what I was. I would just hate the way people would look at me when they found out what I could do."

There is only silence.

"I didn't want you to look at me like that."

\----

"I'm sorry too."

\----

When they visit The Simpson Desert again the dingoes don't try and kill them. They let them in like they are family. Charles has something to do with it. Overall the dingoes were like a pack of over excitable puppies, that used Charles as their climbing post. It was nice to spend time with Charles's family.

That was until the crocodile tried to eat them.

Again. 


End file.
